


Small World

by xBreeButterflyx



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Background Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Closeted Alec Lightwood, F/M, Future Fic, Hurt Magnus Bane, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 18:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20661866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xBreeButterflyx/pseuds/xBreeButterflyx
Summary: Magnus is convinced he's finally gotten over his feelings for Alec Lightwood when he's able to start dating again, but not everything is as black and white as it seems.





	Small World

Magnus was grumbling to himself, miserable beyond despair, as he trudged through the streets of Manhattan towards the subway. Night had fallen long before, and he was unfortunate enough to have gotten caught in the middle of a demonic summoning gone wrong while assisting an old friend. The battle itself had only lasted half an hour, but by the time it was over the two warlocks were so drained that they hadn't an ounce of magic to spare. The cleanup was what had taken hours, and Magnus was still far too drained to summon a portal. He needed sleep. A lot of it.

As if all of that dreadful debacle wasn't enough to deal with for one evening, it was pouring down rain so hard he couldn't see but a few yards ahead of himself. He had his coat wrapped around his body tight, but it still wasn't enough to keep him completely dry. The subway was another three blocks away. If he hadn't been so damn tired, and so uncaring at that point in time, he would've continued on his path dutifully until he reached his destination. But he was, so when he saw the alleyway that cut straight through a whole block of his trip, he couldn't resist the temptation.

Lurking creatures and violent criminals weren't enough to deter him, even without his magic at his defense. Thoughts of a warm bubbly bath and fresh, silken sheets drove him onward. He cut through the narrowed walls and into the darkness of the alley and made his way towards the light he could see at the end.

Magnus was a little over halfway there when it happened. A huge slimy tentacle came flying out behind a dumpster and slammed into his chest, thoroughly knocking the breath out of him. He went flailing back into the wall, head cracking hard enough to see stars as he slid down to the concrete. His vision was blurred, his breathing laboured, and the demon was slithering closer and closer with each passing second. Time slowed down to a standstill, and the only thing going through his head was, 'This is it; this is how I die'.

He blinked harshly against the blur in his vision, trying to take in everything he could see before it was all snuffed out. These were going to be the final moments of his life. He wanted to see all that he could before he couldn't anymore. He flinched in disgust when the demon began to abruptly convulse in place, spewing ichor all over the place (including Magnus). The demon collapsed onto the ground, and Magnus' eyes zeroed-in on a throwing knife lodged into the back of its neck.

A figure leapt down from the rooftop across, landing gracefully ontop of the dumpster the demon had been lurking behind before. When their feet collided with the lid of the can, not a sound was made. Magnus scrambled up from the ground, holding most of his weight against the wall as the pain from the impact hit him full-force now that the adrenaline from the attack had simmered.

When the figure was close enough to make out, Magnus was not at all surprised to see that it was, in fact, a shadowhunter. The soundless rune Magnus had suspected was to blame for the silent impact from the fall was glowing from beneath the collar of her leather jacket. The shadowhunter bent down to retrieve the knife buried deep in the demon's body, yanking it out roughly and wiping the ichor off haphazardly on the front of her jeans. As she came closer into view, Magnus was suprised to find his tongue caught in his throat.

The girl was stunning. She was quite tall, nearly reaching Magnus in height. She had long dark hair that was tied back tight into a intricate braid that swung behind her when she moved. The lights flashing by from passing cars reflected off of her just enough for Magnus to make out a pair of breathtaking cerulean eyes. Her beauty was nothing short of ethereal. It rocked Magnus to his very core.

"Are you alright?" She asked, concern lacing her soft, honey-sweet voice.

Magnus smiled. "I am now, darling."

She didn't even blink, obviously believing him to be referring to his rescue.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

He frowned. "Kind of. I would try to assess my injuries, but I'm afraid my magic is pretty much depleted at the moment. Hence why I almost got devoured by a raum demon and you had to swoop in and save my sorry ass just now," he chuckled self-depreciatingly.

Magnus was quietly delighted to observe the girl crack a small, amused smile. "I can portal you home if you'd like? Let me just grab my stele..."

She reached down to her hip and pulled a stele out of her weapons belt. It was then that another figure appeared above them on the rooftops where the girl had come from. Magnus presumed it to be another shadowhunter. They typically traveled in packs.

"Ariyah! We need to go!" They shouted.

Magnus frowned. There was something eerily familiar about that voice. But he couldn't bring himself to care too much about it anymore when the girl wrapped her arm around him, guiding him to face the wall behind him so that he could step through the portal she created to safety. His chest fluttered.

She made sure he was steady on his feet before letting go, a sad, regretful expression on her face as she looked him over.

"I wish I could come help patch you up, but we're tracking a behemoth down and we've already nearly lost it once-"

Magnus waved her apology off with an understanding shrug. "You're fine, sweetheart. You saved my life. You've done more than enough. Speaking of which, I believe that makes me indebted to you now. How about I take you out to dinner this Friday to thank you for the trouble?"

Even he was shocked at his own words. Ever since that dramatic showdown with Alexander Lightwood that ended in an unhappy marriage and his own broken heart, he'd sworn off shadowhunters for good. But there was something about this one that he couldn't ignore. Something that made him unable to resist the pull.

Ariyah gaped at him, eyes wide, behemoth completely forgotten. Magnus grinned and pulled out one of his business cards from his wallet, thrusting it into her hand without another word before exiting through the portal. He sent the girl a subtle wink as he went, grinning harder at the blush that spread across her cheeks at the action.

~~~

Magnus smiled fondly at the memory of his first encounter with Ariyah as he fiddled with her fingers underneath the table, relishing in the smoothness of the skin despite the countless hours they'd spent wielding knives and swords. Ariyah smiled bashfully at the gesture and gently pressed her lips to his own, and he hummed in approval when the kiss deepened and the taste of her rasberry lipgloss hit his tongue.

He and Ari had been going steady for a couple of months now. They'd been on countless dinner dates, spent many nights drinking and dancing at his club, but his favorite moments with the shadowhunter were the ones when they would simply curl up together under a cozy blanket on the sofa at his loft and watch a movie, content to simply savor the quiet moments above all. It was... Nice. Comfortable, gentle. Their relationship wasn't one of fiery passion or intensity, but that was what Magnus liked best about it. It wasn't at constant risk of a violent, blazing explosion. It was safe.

Until now, that was.

"Everything's going to be fine, Magnus. He's really not that bad," she sighed as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear.

Tonight was the night he was finally going to meet Ari's family. And by family, he means just her father. She doesn't have any siblings, and she'd told him early on in their relationship that her mother had died a few years back out in the field. He wished it was the mother he'd be meeting tonight instead, honestly. From the stories he'd heard, her mother was always the more laid-back of the two parents. She was nurturing, but stern. But her father, on the other hand, she always described as a stick in the mud. Constantly grumpy and disapproving of anything and everything around him. Magnus was dreading the moment he stepped foot into the diner.

Magnus snorted. "You sure seemed convincing of that from what you've told me about him so far."

She rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek, dismissing his concerns with a half-hearted wave. The warlock groaned internally. He would much rather be anywhere else doing anything at all other than this. But alas, this was important to Ariyah, thus, by extension, it was important to him as well.

The next ten minutes passed by in solemn silence, the couple sipping at their drinks as they awaited their arrival of Ariyah's father. Just as Magnus was getting ready to snatch his coat up and take off out the door, his nerves finally catching up to him, another person plopped down in the seat in front of them. When he looked back up, his heart literally stopped for a good two seconds at the sight of the man sitting in front of them.

"What kind of sick, twisted game is this, Magnus? Dating my fucking daughter? Are you kidding me?" Alexander Lightwood hissed, eyes blazing as he stared Magnus down across the booth with a look that could kill.

Magnus gaped like a fish out of water, stunned to his very core at the information he'd just been given. His head whipped back and forth between Alexander and Ariyah, and noticed the striking resemblance almost immediately now that the two of them were in the same room. Poor Ariyah, bless her heart, looked so damn confused, staring at her father with eyes so wide they looked like saucers. Magnus, on the other hand, was the total polar opposite of confused. Everything finally made sense.

It was like the scrambled puzzle pieces of his relationship with Ariyah finally clicked into place. He had been so utterly infatuated with Ariyah from the moment he met her, but it had never been anything of the passionate, lascivious sort. But now he knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, why he was so taken with the girl.

It was because everything about her; her beauty, her personality, even the way she walked and the way she smiled, reminded him so much of Alexander Lightwood, the man who had captured his heart 21 years ago, and apparently, never let it go.

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me when I was letting myself think a little too much the other morning. I mean, it seems pretty weird to think of Magnus accidentally dating the children of someone he was involved with several years before, but Magnus is immortal. It seems like something that very well could happen for him since he lives through so many generations of families. Idk, just a thought. Wanted to put it to paper.


End file.
